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10 Liters of French Onion Soup

It certainly has been a busy few days and time is just flying by. I finished something yesterday that I had been wanting to do for a long time. Make brown broth, turn it into onion soup and pressure can it.

I started my broth on Monday morning using a collection of both saved and fresh bones from beef and some lamb. I threw in a couple of shank steaks (with bone) and a lamb shank for good measure. I also threw in a few carrots, parsley, onions and garlic. Now, normally I would take three days to make my broth, but I decided to cut time by leaving it going on the stove all of Monday night. What a wonderful smell to wake up to! It simmered down over night and was a magnificent deep brown by morning. I cooled it outside for a bit Tuesday afternoon to make skimming the fat easier. I saved this wonderful fat for later frying.

Then came the fun part. I peeled and chopped 10 lbs of onions. I was fast enough so that the first 5 lbs. didn’t make me cry…but the second 5 lbs. got me good. My eyes were red and sore. I took the onions and cooked and caramelized them down and the house smelled like heaven. I then added them to the broth that I had strained through cheese cloth. I let them simmer again.

While I was doing the above I also made some French Bread so I could have the proper bread in my bowls come supper time. NOW the house smelled even better….(drool). I then jarred 10 1 liter jars and pressure canned them. So now when we want real authentic French Onion soup we are good to go, just heat a bit, put in oven proof bowls add bread, tons of cheese, bake under broiler until the cheese bubbles and is getting that golden brown look and there you have it in under 10 minutes.

Before oven ^.

After oven>

Be sure to click on the pics for the full effect (use back button to return for more viewing). Enjoy. Any details…just ask. Thanks for visiting.